Modern motor vehicles are increasingly being equipped with motor-operated closure elements. Said closure elements may be, for example, doors, in particular sliding doors, hatches, in particular tailgates, trunk lids, engine hoods, cargo space floors or the like of a motor vehicle. In this respect, the term “closure element” has a broad meaning in the present case.
One convenience function which is becoming increasingly important today is the automatic operation of the motorized tailgate of a motor vehicle. In the case of the known control system (DE 20 2005 020 140 U1) on which the invention is based, provision is made for an operator control event which is performed by the operator, in this case a foot movement which is performed by the operator, to prompt motorized opening of the tailgate.
A drive arrangement which is associated with the tailgate, a control arrangement and also a distance sensor are provided for this purpose. The control arrangement monitors the sensor signals in order to check whether the above operator control event is occurring. The drive arrangement is accordingly driven depending on the result of this operator control event monitoring operation.
Capacitive distance sensors which are equipped with at least one measurement electrode can be used in order to detect the above operator control events. In this case, an operator control event triggers a change in capacitance of the electrode arrangement, it being possible for this change in capacitance to be easily detected in an electronic manner. A measurement electrode of this kind is generally integrated into the rear skirt of a motor vehicle and extends over the entire width of the motor vehicle. Although a distance sensor of this kind is of robust and structurally simple design, the possible functional scope of the distance sensor is by no means exhausted.
The invention is based on the problem of configuring and developing the known control system in such a way that the existing components can be better utilized for detecting an operator control event.